Pneumatic action for musical instruments.



W. F. BAYER.

Patented N0v.29, 1910.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1' W. F. BAYER. PNEUMATIC ACTION FOR MU$IGAL INSTRUMENTS. APPLICATION FILED ran-1s; 1909. 977,259, Patented Nov. 29, 1910.

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L I y Y I I I v II I Inverzio 7" fliiorne ys gm RXS/WCLM UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM F. BAYER, OF BUFFALO, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO THE CI-IAEE 6c BAKER COMPANY, OF BUFFALO, NEIV 'LZOEK, A CORPORATIGN OF NEW YORK.

PNEUMATIC ACTION FGR MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS.

Application filed February 13, 1909.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM F. BAYER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Buffalo, in the county of Erie and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Pneumatic Actions for Musical Instruments, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to the wind chests and pneumatic actions of automatic musical instruments, such as player-pianos and piano players, and more particularly to actions employing primary and secondary pneun'iatics or pouches.

One of the objects of my invention is the provision of an action of this character which shall be compact in construction and comparatively inexpensive to manufacture.

A. further object is to arrange the primary and secondary pneumatics in close proximity to each other in order to shorten the connecting passages and insure a prompt response of the action.

In the accompanying drawings consisting of 2 sheets: Figure l is a fragi'nentary sectional elevation of the wind chest and action. Figs. 2 and 3 are transverse sections thereof on the correspondingly-numbered lines in Fig. 1. Fig. 4c is a fragmentary horizontal section in line dd, Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a fragmentary vertical section in line 55, Fig. 6. Fig. 6 is a sectional perspective view of the wind chest, with parts of the pneumatic action omitted.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views.

A indicates the horizontal wind-boards of the wind chest arranged one above another, and supported by the upright end pieces or walls A of the chest to which they are suitably secured. Each of these boards contains a longitudinal exhaust chamber a extending throughout its length, and the chambers of the several boards communicate by ports a with main exhaust channels a arranged in said end pieces and connected by tubes or trunks Z) with an exhaust bellows or equivalent device, not shown in the drawings.

0 indicates fixed standards which support the wind chest.

D indicates the motor pneumatics of the instrument arranged in a number of rows in a common manner, and preferably carried Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 29, 1910.

Serial No. 477,567.

by the wind boards A. In the particular construction shown in the drawings, their lower stationary boards are secured to the upper sides of the wind boards and their upper movable boards have the customary arms (Z from which motion is transmitted by rods 6 to levers E which in turn actuate the usual abstracts f or other parts to be operated. The particular construction and arrangement of these motor pneumatics and said connections is, however, non-essential and may be modified without departing from the scope of the invention.

G indicates a tracker board of any suitable construction, G a perforated music sheet cooperating therewith, and h the usual tubes or conduits leading from the trackerducts to channels h 7L2 formed partly in the back board A of the wind chest and partly in the wind-boards A, such a channel corresponding to each motor pneumatic. Each of the latter communicates by ports 2', i and a passage 2' with a valve chamber J. This chamber communicates by a lower port with the exhaust chamber a of the corresponding wind board and by an upper port 7' with a flushing or air-channel 70 formed lengthwise in the top of the wind board and opening into the atmosphere. The two ports j, y' are respectively controlled by oppositely-acting valves 7' j preferably of the well known puppet type commonly employed in this art, the valve disks being mounted on the same spindle in such manner that when the exhaust port j is closed the air port 7' is opened, and vice versa, thereby flushing or collapsing, the corresponding motor pneumatic accordingly. The spindle 7 is guided in the usual bridge piece The valves 7', 7' constitute the secondary valve of the pneumatic action and are controlled. by the secondary pouch, diaphragm or pneumatic Z arranged in the exhaust chamber a and covering a chamber Z to which leads an air channel F. This channel is formed crosswise in the wind board A and extends forwardly from the diaphragm chamber Z and thence upward through the longitudinal front strip L of the wind board where it connects with a short longitudinal passage m1 formed in the upper front portion of the wind board, Figs. 3 and 6. The passage m communicates with the outer atmosphere by an air port m extending vertically therefrom and opening at the top of the wind board. This port is controlled by the upper valvedisk n of the primary valve, the spindle of which extends into the exhaust chamber a and is provided therein with the lower valve disk 71 which closes communication between said chamber and the air channel 122 when the upper disk at is opened. Tl e spindle of this valve, which is guided in the air port m is suiiiciently smaller in diameter than said port to permit the air to freely enter the passage m when the air valve 11 is opened. The primary valve 12, n is controlled by the primary pouch or pneumatic 0 arranged within the exhaust chamber a. and covering a chamber 0 with which the corresponding channel 71- 7L2 communicates. The primary and secondary pneumatics are made of different areas, as usual.

It will be understood from the foregoing that when a perforation of the music sheet registers with the companion tracker duct, the outer atmosphere enters the channel b 7L and raises the primary pneumatic, closing the lower valve disk 17, and opening the upper valve disk 12.. The atmosphere now enters the port m and passes through the passage m and channel Z underneath the secondary pneumatic and raises the latter, closing the air port 7' opening the exhaust port j and collapsing the corresponding I110- tor pneumatic. lVhen said tracker duct is again closed by a solid portion of the music sheet, the primary and secondary valves return to their normal positions, in the customary manner, closing the exhaust port j, opening the air port j and flushing and inflating said motor pneumatic.

The several primary pneumatics of the same wind board are arranged in line lengthwise of the board, preferably near the front side of the wind chest, while the corresponding secondary pneumatics are likewise arranged in line longitudinally of the wind board, preferably near the rear side of the chest, both sets of pneumatics being located in the same exhaust channel a and preferably in about the same horizontal plane, as shown.

As best illustrated in Fig. 4:, the primary and secondary pneumatics of the same wind board A are arranged alternately or in staggered relation, each primary pneumatic being located opposite the space between the two adjacent secondary pneumatics; and the transverse air channels 72 which lead to the primary pneumatics are located between the secondary pneumatics. This results in a very compact arrangement of the primary and secondary pneumatics and their complemental valves, which permits the use of an increased number of such action-units within a given compass.

This close and compactarrangement of the primary and secondary pneumatics also reduces the length of the passages or con nections between them, requiring a shorter travel of the air and rendering the action more responsive. The longitudinal connect ing passages m are prefe ably arranged horizontally, as shown, to facilitate their formation and reduce the cost of the wind chest.

Various changes in the invention may be made within the scope of the appended claims, and I do not therefore wish to be limited to the particular embodiment thereof herein shown and described.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a pneumatic action for musical instruments, the combination of a chest having an exhaust chamber, motor pneumatics, valve mechanisms controlling communication between the motor pneumatics and said exhaust chamber, a series of secondary pneumatics controlling said valve mechanisms and a series of corresponding primary pneumatics, the primary pneumatics being arranged opposite the spaces between the secondary pneumatics and having air inlet channels arranged between the secondary pneumatics.

2. In a pneumatic action for musical instruments, the combination of a wind chest having an exhaust chamber, a motor pneumatic, valve mechanism controlling communication between the motor pneumatic and said exhaust chamber, a secondary pneumatic controlling said valve mechanism, a primary pneumatic cooperating with the secondary pneumatic and arranged out of line therewith transversely of the windchest, the chest containing a transverse air passage leading to the primary pneumatic, a. horizontal longitudinal air passage, and a second transverse passage connecting said longitudinal passage with the secondary pneumatic, and a valve controlling the admission of the atmosphere to said longitudinal passage and actuated by the primary pneumatic.

Witness my hand this Hi1 day of February, 1909.

lVILLIAM F. BAYER. lVitnesses C. F. Gavan, E. M. GRAHAM. 

